New radar towers track space weather from Clyde River

A group of people from Clyde River listen to engineer Jan Wiid speak about the radar towers installed near their community which will help track “space weather.” (PHOTO BY SHARI GEARHEARD)

The rain didn’t bother a group of Clyde River residents who came out earlier this month to learn more about the new radar towers set up near that community’s airport.

There, University of Saskatchewan researchers have set up an array of radar towers, part of an international effort to study “space weather” — that is, the changing atmospheric conditions, which particularly affect astronauts and satellites in space.

The data gathered by the radar towers will increase understanding of the northern lights and other types of dangerous electric currents produced in space, said engineer Jan Wiid as he led people through a tour of the towers, which were installed over the summer by an engineering and technical team.

The towers track the movement of electrically-charged particles, which can knock out electric power grids, destroy communications signals, such as the Internet, radio and television, affect GPS positioning and increase radiation dosage to airline pilots and passengers.

Last March, a powerful solar storm of magnetically-charged particles, did not disrupt power grids or satellite communications as some feared.